How to Scan with Your Canon Pixma Printer Using the PC Button

Scanning documents and photos with your Canon Pixma printer to your computer can be a straightforward process, especially when utilizing the convenient PC buttons on your printer. These buttons are designed to initiate scanning directly to your computer with pre-configured settings. This guide will walk you through how to set up and use the PC buttons on your Canon Pixma printer to streamline your scanning workflow.

Registering Scan Settings to Your PC Button

Before you can quickly scan with the PC buttons, you need to register your preferred scan settings. This involves specifying the destination computer and the type of scan you want to perform. Here’s how to register these settings to either the PC1 or PC2 button:

1. Access the Home Screen: Press the Home button on your printer’s operation panel and tap the Setup icon .

2. Navigate to PC scan settings: Tap on Device settings.

3. Select PC scan settings: Scroll through the options and select PC scan settings .

4. Choose PC button: Tap either PC1 or PC2 to select the button you want to configure.

5. Select Connection Type: Choose the type of connection between your printer and computer.

   • No Setting Erased : Select this to clear any previously registered settings.
   • USB Connection : Choose this option if your printer is connected to your computer via USB cable.
   • Network Connection (for models like MF229dw / MF226dn / MF217w): Select this if your printer and computer are connected over a network (Wi-Fi or Ethernet).

6. Select Destination Computer: If you selected Network Connection, choose the computer you want to scan to from the list displayed. This step is skipped if you selected USB Connection.

7. Select Scan Type: Choose your desired scan type.

   Scan type	Color/Black and White	Resolution	File format
   Color Scan (PDF Searchable, High Compression)	Color	300 dpi	PDF (searchable)*1/High compression
   Black and White Scan	Black and white*2	300 dpi	TIFF
   Color Scan (JPEG/Exif)	Color	300 dpi	JPEG/Exif
   Color Scan (PDF Searchable, Standard Compression)	Color	300 dpi	PDF (searchable)*1/Standard compression

   *1 PDF format where text in the scanned document is recognized as text data, making it searchable on your computer.
   *2 Documents are scanned in black and white with no grayscale.

Note: For advanced settings adjustments, you can use the MF Toolbox software. Refer to your printer’s manual for instructions on “Configuring Scan Settings in MF Toolbox“.

Checking Your Registered Scan Settings

You can easily verify the settings you’ve registered to the PC buttons.

• Destination Computer Name : Displays the name of the computer set as the scan destination.
• Scan Type : Shows the configured scan type.

Using the PC Button to Scan

Once you have registered your settings, scanning is incredibly simple:

1. Place Your Document: Load your document on the printer, either on the platen glass or in the automatic document feeder (ADF). Refer to your printer’s guide for “Placing Documents” for detailed instructions.

2. Initiate Scan: Press the Home button and then tap the PC1 or PC2 button that you configured. To review the settings for each button, see “Checking the Registered Settings“.

   Scanning will start automatically using the registered settings. To cancel the scan, tap the Stop button .

Important: Ensure that the MF Toolbox setup screen is closed on your computer before initiating a scan from the printer. Scanning cannot be performed while the MF Toolbox setup screen is active.

Scanning with the Automatic Document Feeder (ADF)

When using the ADF, after the scan is complete, the folder where your scanned document is saved will automatically open on your computer.

Scanning from the Platen Glass

When scanning from the platen glass, follow these steps after the initial scan:

1. Scan Additional Pages (Optional): If you have more pages to scan, place the next document on the platen glass and press the Start button .

   Repeat this for all remaining pages. If you only have one page, proceed to the next step.

2. Finalize Scan: Tap the Finish button on the printer’s screen. The destination folder will then open on your computer, containing your scanned document.

About the Save Destination Folder: By default, scanned images are saved to the Pictures or My Pictures folder on your computer. A new subfolder named with the scan date is created within this folder to organize your scans. To change the default save location, refer to “Configuring Storing Settings” in your printer’s manual.

Related Links:

Scanning from the Machine

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